Day in the life of a 10 year old author, Kadii Hamilton: Travelling, Interviews and the Gruffalo!

Hello, fellow adventurers and book lovers! It's Kadii Hamilton here, sharing an emotional and inspiring journey my mum and I recently embarked on. From supporting the Akamba Heritage Centre to exploring the Cheltenham Literature Festival, this adventure was filled with learning, understanding, reflections and creativity.

Kadii Hamilton saying farewell to Akamba Heritage Centre, Earlswood and getting some final souvenirs!

We visited the Akamba Heritage Centre as it was closing down, wanting to show our support one last time. I remember coming here when I was a baby and looked up at the amazing animals which stood so high! From a small height they always looked like they reached the clouds and it was so breath-taking!

It has always been a place of inspiration for me because I loved how you could walk in there and it felt like you were in a jungle, where you could hear the gentle waterfall in the back of the centre as you walked through all of the greenery and smell different senses coming towards the giant buffalo jerk machine! As I am such a mix of ethnicities, I get the pleasure of enjoying different cultures during different celebrations. One of my favourite style of cooking is in the jerk machine because it creates such a unique taste and flavour and all of the smells make you hungry while you are waiting! I will also miss the restaurant with all of the African cultural arts and the talented hand-crafted door handles. The food was always great and the chairs and sofas were where a lot of my creative idea seeds were born!

Although it was sad to see it go, we understood that it was time for them to evolve onto the next venture of their business plans and goals. It was a reminder that change can lead to new and exciting opportunities.

Kadii Hamilton at Cheltenham Literature Festival

After this quick stop, our journey continued to the Cheltenham Literature Festival. It was an incredible experience filled with books, authors, and inspiration. I heard about this event when we were down Cheltenham once and stopped by Edible Art Patisserie, because, how can you walk past that without feeling a tiny bit curious?! By the way, they do the BEST macaroons ever! If you are not allergic to nuts, I would highly recommend the pistachio flavour!

Kadii Hamilton interviewed by The Times Radio at Cheltenham Literature Festival by James Hanson

Anyway, staying on topic - one of the highlights was being interviewed by The Times on their travelling touring bus. It was so spacious and cosy, with all the sides flipping out, and it felt like we were getting one step closer to figuring out how to bring our STEM Techni-Bus to life one day! Can you imagine this mobile centre that just looks like a normal bus, flipping out into an amazing workshop space filled with experiments and activities?

I was interviewed by James Hanson from The Times on their touring bus and it was a fantastic opportunity to share our journey and dreams with a wider audience. I was given advice from The Times team from another author who asked if I wanted to be a young one-hit author or an older author who could make a career out of writing. I felt like I needed a long time to think of that answer because the journey so far has been amazing and I still have a lot of ideas with our upcoming books - so, really, my question is what makes just those two options the only options available?

As we explored the festival, we came across gigantic books, which sparked the idea of making my next book portrait instead of landscape. And, of course, what is a Lit Fest without the Gruffalo!? It was a day filled with creativity and imagination.

I invite you to follow our journey on Futureleaders.blog, where we share our experiences, tips, and stories. Whether you're a budding author, an aspiring entrepreneur, or just someone who loves a good story, there's something for everyone.

Thank you for being part of our adventure, and I can't wait to see where this journey takes us next!